ANAHEIM – From the start of their first-round series against the San Jose Sharks, the Ducks never believed they were a “typical eighth seed.”

By upsetting the top-seeded Sharks in Game 6 Monday, inflicting a few bumps and bruises for good measure, they showed the Big, Bad Ducks are indeed back in business.

Reminiscent of the physically imposing and sometimes penalty-prone team that pounded its way to a Stanley Cup in 2007, the Ducks began fighting from the drop of the puck, and sprinkled in a few goals along the way for a 4-1 victory. They earned a date in the second round with Detroit, which will host the series as the higher-seeded team.

“It feels good to move on,” Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said after a busy game in which he recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick – a goal, an assist and a fight. “We consider ourselves a contender. We felt that way from the start.”

Jonas Hiller stopped 36 of 37 shots, and a pair of second-period goals that deflected in off the sticks of Sharks defenders made the difference for the Ducks.

Corey Perry batted in a rebound in the first period to tie the score at 1-1, Teemu Selanne and Francois Beauchemin were credited with the crucial second and third goals, and Getzlaf provided the final score late in the third period.

Getzlaf set the tone, when he and the Sharks’ Joe Thornton lined up for the opening faceoff before 17,174 at Honda Center.

They must have heard a bell clang when the puck dropped – the 6-foot-4 centers forgot they were their team’s leading scorers, dropped gloves, and fought like a couple of heavyweight contenders.

“He challenged me a little bit in the last game,” Getzlaf said. “I didn’t really want to fight at that point with the series 3-1. Tonight was kind of an opportunity to redeem myself, and Joe wanted to go again to spark his team.”

The pugilistic gesture foreshadowed the 60 minutes of hockey that would follow, a style that clearly played into the Ducks’ hands.

Separate fights drew in all five skaters from each side at the close of the second period, and again early in the third. The sides combined for a total of 24 penalties for 60 minutes, with calmer heads prevailing only during the ceremonial handshake at the conclusion.

“We wanted to be in their face, we wanted to play tonight,” Getzlaf said. “I’m sure Joe thought the same thing.”

Clarifying the encounter while smiling proudly, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said “I’ve never been a coach that’s sent a guy out there to fight. (Getzlaf) made the decision. I’m glad he did.”

Still, the Ducks were outshot 18-9 in a first period that slanted toward the Sharks. But a 4-on-3 goal from Perry at the 12:33 mark negated a 5-on-4 goal by the Sharks’ Milan Michalek at 10:19, and the score was tied at 1 through 20 minutes.

In the second period, the Ducks settled down and took advantage of a pair of costly mistakes by San Jose. Nine seconds into a hooking penalty on the Sharks’ Torrey Mitchell, Selanne tapped a centering pass toward the crease, where Perry and Sharks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff were battling for position.

Ehrhoff inadvertently deflected the puck backwards and over Evegeni Nabokov’s leg pad to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 13:03. The goal was credited to Selanne, his first of the series.

At 14:26, a long slapshot by Francois Beauchemin deflected upward off the stick of San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle, and found the top-right corner of the net behind a befuddled Nabokov. That gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead and left Boyle staring at his traitorous stick.

Getzlaf’s wristshot with 2:54 left in the game was his second goal of the series, to go along with an assist on Perry’s goal.

The Ducks became the eighth No. 8 seed since 1994 to upset a No. 1 seed in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. How did the Ducks pull itoff?

“San Jose’s a great team, but when you’re almost waiting for the playoffs you get a little bored,” Ducks defenseman Ryan Whitney said. “We were playing playoff games pretty much for the last month. I know that makes a difference.”

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